Valletta and Ħamrun Tre Angeli maintained their fine form of late in the Gatorade League to keep the pressure on leaders Luxol.

Valletta had a straightforward 18-1 victory over Swieqi Under 21 but Ħamrun were made to fight hard for the points in a 5-2 win over Safi San Lorenzo.

As expected, champions Valletta dominated possession for long stretches and rarely gave the Swieqi lads a sight of their goal.

Valletta had Brazilian striker Raphinha in scintillating form, netting seven goals and being a constant menace to the Swieqi rearguard.

Denis di Maio also confirmed his scoring prowess on the evening as he hit a hat-trick while Xavier Saliba, Daniel Aguilera and Jovica Milijic were twice each on the mark.

Dylan Musu and Rodrigo Patricio rubber-stamped Valletta’s victory as Swieqi’s only goal came from Luca Zarb.

Everton Veve scored twice in Ħamrun’s win over Safi for them to stay in the reckoning for a place in the play-offs.

Ħamrun held command for long stretches and some timely interventions from Safi keeper Christian Lia denied them more goals.

Although Safi managed to reduce the gap after going in for the break 2-0 down, Ħamrun didn’t lose composure and added three more goals to seal the win.

Besides Veve’s double on the night, Alex Ellul, Daniel Mifsud and Cleaven Portelli also put their names on the scoresheet. Alexei Saliba and Leonard Zammit were the Safi goal-getters.

Meanwhile, Mrieħel ESS registered their second win on the trot after stunning University of Malta 4-0.

The success helped Eslam Khalifa’s boys to reduce the gap from the fifth-placed UOM to just one point. Mark Galea, Faisal Alnakua, Essa Benatiya and Kamal Edgeli scored Mrieħel’s goals.

The futsal championship resumes this evening with two other matches as Tarxien face Swieqi and Sliema play Msida.

Standings
Luxol 36; Valletta 34; Ħamrun 33; Swieqi 24; UOM 21; Mrieħel ESS 20; Msida 19; Sliema 17; Safi, Qormi Futsal 15; Qrendi 9; Marsascala 6; Tarxien JMI, Swieqi U-21 3; Żurrieq 0.